Are you living
for today or tomorrow… or for eternity?
What is your
finish line? Sometimes we talk about having a long view instead of a short
view. Sometimes that might look like planning twenty years ahead instead of
just planning for today, or tomorrow.
But is that
enough to just plan for the next 50 or 60 years?
What do you have
your sights set on?
Are you looking
towards finishing the race of this life on this side of the grave, only?
Ephesians 1:10
tells us that God’s plan is to reunite heaven and on earth in Christ.
Rev. 21:1-4 Then
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold,
the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will
be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will
wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall
there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have
passed away.”
·
Revelation
21:1-4 tells us that our present life here on earth is not everything that we
have to live for. We are not living until we die and then our life is over. There
is something more…
·
But
neither is our end in Heaven. There is more than just heaven.
·
There
is the New Creation. New Heaven and
New Earth. The city of God will be
brought down to the New Earth. God’s dwelling place will be with Man. There
will no longer be death, or sickness or mourning or pain.
·
This
is our future in Christ. Do you believe it?
God will dwell with us and
bring his glory down to earth in the New Creation and he will give us peace.
·
How
does that affect how you live today? You are not in your last days on this
earth. I hear a lot of prayer requests about this and that person being sick.
That is good. It is good to pray for the sick. Jesus healed the sick when he
was on earth. God answers our prayers and heals us. But I want to encourage you
to also think about this bigger picture of our reality. Your lives are not
ending. Maybe life in your present body, but not your soul. The children’s
catechism interprets this by teaching our young ones that we have a soul that
can never die.
·
You
have much to look forward to. You are a part of something bigger and that has
meaning now in this life. It isn’t just going to the clouds to be in heaven,
but it is experiencing the New Earth with all of its glory in God’s presence.
What we do in this life will have an impact in what we get to experience, in
the new life and with whom we get to experience it.
·
This
plays out in how we set our goals. If I am living in this life, thinking that I
only have so many years until it is over I will make my decisions and plans to
seek to make the most of these years. But if, I see life as a part of the
whole Kingdom of God leading up to the New Creation, then I will make decisions and plans that work toward
making the most of eternity. I will invest my time in building what
contributes to the Kingdom. I will invest in building Christ’s Church
even if I may not see the fruit on this side of the grave.
·
This
in no way means that I neglect the present and physical life. It
actually improves the way I see it and the importance I put on it. I invest my
time into my children even more to help equip them
to live life to the fullest realizing that their souls will last for an
eternity not just at the most 100 years.
·
What
are we preparing for? Are we
preparing only for retirement? We need to prepare for retirement so as not to
be a burden for our children or so as not to starve in our old age, but that is
not our main goal. We are also preparing for this holy city, the bride of
Christ. God is preparing this city as a bride, we are a part of what God is
doing. As God uses us to build his church, He is preparing her for His Son.
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What
enables us to persevere and push on?
This hope of eternity is what gives us perseverance. When we have our
perspective set on eternity, we are empowered to push on even through the
difficulties that we cannot see through. As
a finish line in a race… This certainty of arriving at the finish line
comes from this promise that God has accomplished this through Christ and it is
ours by faith. It is not dependent on our performance or our works, but only on
our perseverance in the faith in Christ himself.
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What
allows us to have patience and wait? When we know that the end is secure and
stable and certain, then we have no reason to fret. If we are waiting for
something and we don’t know whether it will happen or not, then we fret and
worry. Waiting for a loved one to return
home and it is late…If we know they are fine then we can sleep. But if we worry
that something happened then we fret. But if we are certain of the outcome, then we
are calm and at peace. God has given us this certainty of eternity by giving us
this promise that he is preparing this city for Christ.
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May
that give you peace, confidence and hope in Christ. You are made for this holy
city in the New Creation. You are a part of it and are a privileged participant
in preparing for it as God is preparing you and putting you to work in
participating with Him in building His city through the work of the church in
preaching the cross of Christ and giving yourself sacrificially in every way.
